Fellow fundraiser, we’re about a month out from the next potential Canada Post strike.

Yup, you read that right.

It seems like just yesterday we were all speculating about strikes at year-end – and then suddenly scrambling when a full shutdown was announced, rather than the rolling strikes we expected. Just a few months since we pivoted, course-corrected, and nimble’d our way through November and December.

And now, here we go again. Maybe.

How’d we get here? Your postal strike recap.

Canada Post and the Canadian Postal Workers Union (CUPW) were – and are – quite simply, at an impasse.

As November’s strike wore on, the case was sent to the Canada Industrial Relations Board. CIRB called our beloved postal workers back to work, extended their collective agreements until May 2025, and sent both parties back to continue discussions. Hearings on the subject were held earlier this year, and the Commissioner of the Industrial Inquiry Commission will present their recommendations to the Ministry of Labour by May 15.

Well folks, it’s almost May 2025 (we know it’s hard to believe!). Those extended collective agreements are running out. And while we can’t know for sure, we haven’t heard anything from our networks that lead us to believe Canada Post and CUPW have been able to make progress (after all, some of these issues are ones they’ve been bargaining over for literally years!).

How can you prep your mail campaigns for a postal strike?

We’ve been working with our direct mail charity clients with an eye to this distinct possibility since January. We’ve built plans and strategies anticipating that a strike would be in our future.

If you can drop your mail early, do so. Because 60% of mail-driven gifts are made online, the real power of the mail is to persuade the donor to hop online and make that vital donation. That only works if your mail is in their mailbox, so get in there if at all possible.

You can also add a buckslip to your mailings, or a note on your reply device, reminding donors that they can always give online in the event of a strike. This helps bridge the gap for your old-school supporters who still love writing a cheque or filling out your reply coupon.

What can you do when you’re fundraising in a postal strike?

Whether or not you can drop your mail early, you’ll want to look at layering in new touchpoints to help offset the mail. Your focus here is mostly on creating new persuasion points, since so much giving is already done online – and because most other tactics are less effective than mail at swaying behaviour, you should aim to layer up.

Here are a few tried-and-true ideas for keeping your fundraising running, and revenue coming in, even with a mail strike:

 

• • Make sure you’ve got search ads up and running, so you capture all the low-hanging fruit of potential supporters search for your charity or adjacent keywords.

• • Activate your email list, and see if there are other owned audience, like event supporters, volunteers, or visitors, that you can bring into the fold.

• • Launch a texting program (spoiler alert: if you want to do this – and you should, because the response rates are amazing – start now, and start with stewardship).

• • Mobilize volunteers to do calling, supported by thoughtful segmentation to maximize efficiency into this high-touch approach.

• • Include a banner or lightbox on your website highlighting the urgent need for support during the strike, and the impact of individual giving for your cause.

• • If you’re a charity with a physical space, consider placing asks in high-traffic zones or placing volunteers strategically to solicit giving.

What’s next with the postal strike?

Well, we should be hearing recommendations from the IIC in May. The earliest we’ll see a labour disruption is May 22, 2025. And until then, we’ll prepare us best we can – and we’ll keep you in the loop when we hear more.